292 The Environmental Debate
Symposium on Man’s Role in Changing the Face of the Earth, inspired by Marsh’s
Man and Nature (published in 1864).
1956 Water Pollution Control Act creates water pollution control programs on inter-
state waterways.
Proposed Echo Park Dam, planned for construction in Dinosaur National Monu-
ment, deleted from Upper Colorado River Storage Project; marks a major victory
for wilderness preservation.
M. King Hubbert predicts that U.S. oil production will peak in 1970s.
1957 Poultry Products Inspection Act makes poultry inspection mandatory; amended
1968.
1958 Food Additive Amendment (Delaney Clause) to 1938 Food, Drug, and Cosmetics
Act prohibits approval of any additive “found to induce cancer in man or animal.”
Outdoor Recreation Resources Review Commission appointed by Congress.
Space Act Creates National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), one
of whose priorities is the study of Earth’s atmosphere.
Trout Unlimited formed.
Congress allocates funds for environmental health activities in the budget of the
Department of Health, Education, and Welfare.
1959 St. Lawrence Seaway opened.
1960 Federal Hazardous Substances Act requires prominent labeling of hazardous
workplace and household products and chemicals.
Multiple Use Act defines purposes for which national forests can be used.
1961 World Wildlife Fund-U.S. established.
Antarctic Treaty sets aside the continent for use “for peaceful purposes only” and
provides a base for national groups to perform geophysical and biological research
and freely exchange research data.
1962 Rachel Carson publishes Silent Spring.
White House Conference on Conservation hosted by John F. Kennedy.
1963 Clean Air Act, expanding on Clean Air Act of 1955, authorizes Department of
Health, Education, and Welfare to establish clean air criteria; amended 1965.
Dispute between Arizona and California over allocation of Colorado River water.
Bureau of Outdoor Recreation established.
Nuclear Test Ban Treaty among the United States, the United Kingdom, and the
Soviet Union.